As Yiye Zhiqu and Hu Wan continued down the labyrinth's corridors, three skeleton soldiers toting logging axes and singing songs had already arrived at the entrance of the North Peak Mine.

Looking at the air wall that stopped countless players, Xiao Sha suddenly waved his hand, blocking Jingluo and Xiaowan, and passed the axe to Jingluo's hands.

While Jingluo and Xiaowan were puzzled, she rubbed her hands together, took a long jump out of the cave, and passed through the air wall without any hindrance.

"Success! Hahahaha! I'm the first to set foot in the new world ahhhh—!"

Dawn was just breaking and the autumn ground was cool, with a layer of dew condensing on the steep mountain path.

Add to that, the skeleton's foot was the leaky kind, and upon touching the ground, Xiao Sha immediately landed on her bottom and rolled down the slope amidst screams of terror.

Luckily, she hit a large rock; otherwise, that slide would've certainly taken her all the way down the mountain.

"Crazy..."

With a speechless face, Jingluo walked up, pulled the Xiao Sha, whose head was stuck to her butt, off the ground, and then smacked her hard on the head.

Clutching her nearly split head, Xiao Sha's voice sounded pitifully close to crying.

"Damn... I'm already this miserable! Don't you have even a bit of pity for the fairer sex?"

Knowing it was all an act, Jingluo mercilessly said,

"What are you blabbering about, you corpse, should at least be as beautiful as a blooming flower to talk like that."

"Screw that! Looking for a fight?!"

While these two clowns were bickering, Xiaowan, standing on the slope, had all her attention captured by the distant view.

She saw the splendid morning glow etched on the horizon like an uprising ember. The layers of mountains seemed endless at a glance, and everywhere she looked were autumn trees painted in rich red.

It was truly beautiful.

Maybe it was because she had stayed in the mine too long, but the vivid contrast made her feel that this world was so wonderful that she even felt the urge to stay here forever.

Here, she could jump and hop without a care...

She could travel wherever she wanted to go.

"Who would've thought the world outside the cave would be so vast!"

Seeing Xiaowan's longing gaze into the distance, Jingluo and Xiao Sha glanced at each other and both revealed mischievous smiles, releasing their tangled skeletal hands.

"Right? Hiding such great things, those damn—cough! The planners really went too far!"

"So, the outside map was already completed," Jingluo walked beside Xiaowan and followed her gaze into the distance, lightly smiling, "I had thought everything outside was just a texture... Guess I underestimated the development team's abilities."

Who knows, maybe even the human towns on the surface are already finished.

Don't go south, eh?

Seems like the south is the right way to go.

Xiaowan: "Speaking of which, when we were in the mine, I couldn't feel it at all... It's already dawn outside."

Jingluo: "Yes, it is."

Xiao Sha: "The morning sun is really great!"

Xiaowan: "I mean... it's also dawn in the real world, right? We've been online for almost 24 hours now, haven't we? Do you guys always play games this way?"

Xiao Sha: "How could that be! Even for us, being online continuously for 24 hours would be too exaggerated! We still log off occasionally, like to get up and eat or something."

Xiaowan stared at Xiao Sha, who was triumphantly oblivious, completely puzzled by what she found so praiseworthy.

Jingluo smiled slightly and said.

"Yes, Xiao Sha ate two takeouts today."

Xiao Sha stiffened all over and made a coughing gesture with a strain.

"Cough! I'm still growing; what's wrong with eating a bit more? And don't make it sound like I ate two servings in one meal!"

Jingluo: "Oho? Nearly 20 years old and still hoping to grow more, really?"

Xiao Sha: "Go die, you!!"

Watching the two start quibbling again, Xiaowan couldn't help but ask curiously,

"Do you two know each other in real life?"

The two looked at each other and simultaneously said,

"Rather than saying we know each other..."

"More like we've known each other for many years!"

"That's nice..." Xiaowan looked at them enviously, daydreaming about what it would be like if she had friends in real life too.

"Enough about that, time to get to work." Jingluo picked up the two axes on the ground and tossed one to Xiao Sha.

Xiaowan: "Wait, don't you need to log off and rest for a bit? Like do some exercises to recover or something..."

Hoisting the axe on her shoulder, Xiao Sha looked at her curiously.

"What are you talking about?"

Jingluo looked at her with a naturally confused expression as well.

"I mean, what are you saying? We're from the Otherworld; just providing some nutrients from Earth is enough."

Hu Wan: "..."

...

Meanwhile, on the first level of the labyrinth's "Sewer Corridor," two skeleton soldiers continued to push forward.

Yiye Zhiqu had already ascended to lv5, and he was but a hair's breadth away from lv6.

His current attributes were 4/6/3/1/1, with strength still being the strongest, and constitution nearly catching up with an old farmer from the Aus Empire.

To surpass the living as a skeleton soldier.

By the standards of the Undead, this was quite an impressive achievement.

The two had originally planned to return the same way they came but encountered a Lizardman along the way.

The creature had dark green scales and carried a short bow on its back, lurking in the dark waiting for an opportunity to strike.

The two immediately gave chase, but the monster did not launch an attack; realizing it had been exposed, it turned tail and fled.

Yiye Zhiqu and Hu Wan chased after it for a while but ultimately failed to catch up. Instead, they arrived at a strange place.

"We let that one get away."

Watching the shadow disappear into the distance, Yiye Zhiqu's face showed a hint of regret.

"By the way, where is this?" Hu Wan looked around and saw a grand hall paved with stone slabs.

Towering granite columns connected to the dome above, and pitch-black stairs flanked by extinguished braziers extended all the way to the entrance at the dome's peak.

Around it were railings with extinguished torches planted on them, resembling an abandoned watchtower.

"I don't know..." Yiye Zhiqu observed the surroundings, finding something familiar about the place.

It took a while before he suddenly realized that this place was exactly like the labyrinth entrance minus the cobwebs!

"That's it... This might be another entrance to the labyrinth."

As he spoke, a faint green glow flickered in the depths of his skeletal eyes.

"Another entrance?!"

Hu Wan was taken aback for a moment and then followed Yiye Zhiqu's gaze toward the staircase leading to the apex of the dome.

It really did look like one?!

Yiye Zhiqu continued to ponder.

"From past CG animations, we can infer that there should be adventurers in this world... However, so far, the only adventurers we've encountered are those few in cages. That being the case, there's only one possibility: the labyrinth entrance we occupy is just one of many, and it might even be the least popular among them."

As he spoke, his gaze was fixed on the end of the staircase, as if his line of sight had penetrated the closed archway, seeing the scene beyond it.

That must be the human world!

"Shall we take a look?"

Yiye Zhiqu looked towards Hu Wan, who, as expected, returned a resolute look.

As a closed beta tester, how could he miss this opportunity for a sneak peek at the game content?

"...Let's go have a look!"

The two climbed the stairs, vaulted over the guardrail of the watchtower, and approached the door to open it, only to find the door creaking open by itself.

A middle-aged man in a standard armor, yawning as he came in from behind the door.

He had a morning star strapped to his left waist, a flintlock pistol on his right, and was carrying a shield worth 50,000 Joss Paper with his left hand.

Probably because he just came out of the pub, beer froth clung to his beard, and he was muttering unintelligible words.

The two sides faced each other, and both froze for a moment.

Just as Yiye Zhiqu opened his mouth to say something, the human soldier, as if he had seen a ghost, hurled his shield at the skeleton and then turned and ran for his life.

"Undead!!! Undead! Ring the bell!!!"

He ran while shouting in alarm, quickly disappearing into the darkness, startling Yiye Zhiqu and Hu Wan who stood at the door, leaving them momentarily at a loss.

Hu Wan: "What's he shouting about?!"

Yiye Zhiqu: "…I don't know, probably 'seeing a ghost' or something."

As they were talking, the urgent sound of bells came from behind the door, followed by the sound of running footsteps.

Instinct told Yiye Zhiqu this was not a good sign.

Without a moment's hesitation, he picked up the shield that had fallen to the ground and started running down the staircase.

"Run!"

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